Railway safety and crime

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has launched an investigation into a near-miss at Primrose Hill which left several people “very distressed.”

The incident occurred last month between South Hampstead station and Primrose Hill tunnels on one of lines into London Euston station.

As the 22:14hrs Birmingham New Street to London Euston passenger service approached along the up fast line at around 49mph, the driver saw a group of track workers, and sounded the train’s warning horn and applied the brakes.

The track workers, who believed that they were working on the up slow line, were alerted to the approaching train by other workers, the sound of the train’s horn and its headlights, and immediately began to get out of the way.

They removed two trolleys that had been placed on the tracks, and were clear of the approaching train around two seconds before it passed.

Although no serious injuries were sustained as a result of the incident, one person injured their knee as they moved out of the way of the train, and several of those who were involved in or witnessed the near-miss were “very distressed.”

RAIB has said that its investigation will consider how the intended work was planned and authorised, including the adequacy of the geographic information provided for those on site, how the work was implemented on site, and the way in which safe work procedures were applied.

It will also look at the competence management of those involved in the planning, authorisation and implementation of the system of work and any relevant cultural or management factors.

Top image: www.signsexpress.co.uk

Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an RTM columnist? If so, click here.

editor's comment

Despite a few disappointing policy announcements, especially for the electrification aficionados amongst us, 2017 was, like Darren Caplan writes on page 20, a year generally marked by positive news for the rail industry. We polished off the iconic Ordsall Chord (p32), hit some solid milestones on Thameslink (p40), progressed on ambitious rolling stock orders (p16), and finally started moving forward on HS2 (p14) ‒ paving the way for a New Ye...read more >

last word

This summer, Arriva Group's CrossCountry and the Scout Association joined to launch a new partnership to promote rail safety among young people. Chris Leech MBE, business community manager at the...more >more last word articles >

On This Site

'the sleepers' daily blog

Peter Cayless, founder and creative director at Working Eye, talks about an innovative solution to employment in the rail industry that might just help transform careers advice into career discovery.
At the 2012 Latitude Festival, comedian Shappi Khorsandi joked that rather than book a clown for their daughter’s birthday party, pare...more >